


Definitely

by MelyndaR



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies), Thor - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-08
Updated: 2017-02-08
Packaged: 2018-09-22 22:55:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9628853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelyndaR/pseuds/MelyndaR
Summary: Darcy and Steve are on a mission together on Valentine's Day Eve, when they're stranded in a snowed in cabin. It's going to be a while before they get home, and Darcy is going to miss her date, and she's kinda disappointed. She wasn't particularly interested in him beyond a date but she had really been hoping to get laid because it has been *forever*. But as it turns out, Steve has more to say about this date - and Darcy - then she'd ever dared hope.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jordsy91](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jordsy91/gifts).



> Sorry, the title is crummy, and it feels like it's been forever since I've properly written these characters, so I hope that I did them and the prompt justice, and that it's not as ooc as I'm afraid it is. I hope you like it!

Fine, so, _maybe_ , in retrospect, Darcy should’ve considered that something could go wrong when she decided whether or not she had the time to accompany Steve up here to an abandoned mountaintop HYDRA facility in Nowheresville, Montana. She _knew_ to consider that – had worked with Jane and the Science Bros too long not to – and yet… she hadn’t. And because of that it was starting to look like she was going to miss her date tomorrow evening… which wasn’t, in and of itself, a terrible thing…

Ian, the poor, unsuspecting intern, had proven himself to be a flat-out boring dude, but Darcy knew from personal experience that he was a good kisser, at least. He had also proven – in multiple instances – that he was interested in Darcy.

It wasn’t that the feeling was mutual – it really wasn’t – but after he’d asked her out and been turned down nine times, Darcy had relented and agreed to go out with him. Just once – and totally for her own purposes, if she was being honest.

Because – if she was being honest – her sex life had hit a dry spell… but she definitely trusted Ian to be willing to break that pattern at the end of their date.

A date – complete with questionable motives – that she was now doomed to miss.

Why then had she come in the first place, you ask? That could also be blamed on her starved sex life, in a manner of speaking. Because, being deprived of something made you think about it even more, right? Truthfully, all she’d really wanted out of this trip with Steve was to ride on the back of his stupid motorcycle with him, with her arms wound around his waist as they came, taking every chance to subtly ogle his backside in his uniform while they were there. Then she would get a chance to get her hands on his six-pack abs again – through his clothes, yes, but he was Captain America, so who was worried about particulars here – as they came back.

Really, she was a simple girl with simple desires… but of course _nothing_ could ever actually _stay_ simple in the life of a woman who lived with the Avengers.

Because, as it turned out, the HYDRA base she and Steve had been visiting hadn’t been as abandoned as they had first been lead to believe – an issue that Steve had promptly taken care of by simply blowing the place up. They’d already ascertained that there was nothing left in the building of interest to them, so it didn’t really matter in that respect. In the process of getting away from the HYDRA goons, however, they had both managed to lose their comms. And debris from the explosion had lodged in the tires of the motorcycle meant to carry them back down the mountain the way they’d come.

So now here they were, stranded alone together on a snowy mountain in the middle of February as Darcy did her best – and probably failed – not to sulk like a disgruntled teenager.

“At least we found an outbuilding to stay in until they realize that something is wrong and come for us,” Steve offered, speaking across the cold air and weird silence that hung between them in the aforementioned outbuilding.

“Uh-huh,” Darcy agreed, pulling one of the raggedy blankets she’d found tighter around her shoulders.

“I got a fire made,” Steve tried again, nodding to the small, flickering flame in the fire-pit that took up the middle of the room. “It should start to warm up in here soon.”

“Uh-huh,” Darcy repeated. She knew she was being petty about their situation, though – Steve couldn’t like this situation any more than she did – so she added halfheartedly, “Thanks.”

 Steve shot her a sympathetic look, admitting, “It is kind of a crummy way to spend the day before Valentine’s Day, though, isn’t it?”

Darcy raised her eyebrows, staring into the slowly growing fire as she agreed, “There is that.”

“I’m sorry about your date,” he said, moving to sit beside her as he pulled a blanket around his own shoulders.

Darcy looked at him in surprise. She hadn’t known he was even aware that she’d had a date planned. Despite her sulking, the first thought that came to mind was, _“Well, I’m not_ ,” and in a weird way that was true. She hadn’t wanted – and still didn’t want – to go on a date with Ian; she’d just wanted to get laid. And in the tiny cabin with just the two of them there to fill the silence, she told him so before asking, “Is that terrible of me?”

Because, truthfully, she would much rather go on a date with the man beside her than Ian any day; it was just that Ian wasn’t out of her league, and Steve undoubtedly was.

Steve shook his head, not really answering her question as he muttered, “That sounds like something Bucky might do, actually.” He had looked amused a moment ago, but as he turned to look at the fire, his gaze following the trail of smoke up to the holes in the roof, he seemed more thoughtful as he admitted, “But I’m… confused.”

“By what?” Darcy asked, an eyebrow ticking upward again as she looked at him.

Steve chewed on his bottom lip for a second, still not meeting her eyes as he said, “It sounds like you don’t like Ian, and you’re definitely…” Suddenly he did look at her, and the intensity in his blue eyes caught her off-guard as he asked, “You do know you’re better than that – than… him, than being with someone you don’t care for – right?”

Darcy nearly snorted, trying to ignore the things that look of his did to her stomach as she said, “That’s sweet, Rogers, but I don’t exactly see willing tributes lining up at the door.”

“But you don’t need ‘tribute _s_ ,’ do you? How about just one guy who’s worthy of you making you his queen. Or is that a little too old-fashioned for you?”

This time she did snort. “No, that sounds wonderful, actually, but again, I don’t see anybody who’s interested, and frankly I don’t blame them, so I’m taking what I can get.”

The blue in his irises turned gray in an instant as he demanded, so surprised his tone was nearly sharp, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Darcy sighed. “It means that I live in a place that has as many security levels as the Whitehouse, surrounded by superheroes beside whom I’m as ugly as the Wicked Witch of the West. Superheroes that I spend my time risking my life with and for, while simultaneously being overprotected by the lot of them. It’s a lot to take in and deal with for any guy, and there’s not – I’m not – enough in return to make it worthwhile, so—”

“Shut up.”  

The order – and it was unmistakably an order – was spoken sharply, and just loud enough for her to hear. She had been staring into the fire while she spoke again, but when she turned to look at him, he seemed as surprised at his own words as she did.

He shook his head again, overcoming his surprise first before he asked in a much kinder tone, “Do you even _hear_ yourself?”

“Of course I do.” Darcy shrugged, still feeling confused as she admitted, “I happen to hear those thoughts rattling around in my head quite often, Cap.”

He stared at her, blinked, then, by all appearances, began doing his best to dismantle her thoughts. “First of all: Darcy, do me a favor and do not _ever_ let me hear you call yourself anything less than absolutely gorgeous ever again, because that’s what you are.” She opened her mouth as if to protest, though she wasn’t really sure _what_ exactly she was going to say, but he spoke over her, and for once, she let someone do so. “No, I mean it, and you apparently need to hear it. You are gorgeous inside and out. And, yeah, you spend your days with us, risking your life sometimes because you’re _brave enough to do it_ , and we _love_ you for it, so _of course_ we protect you. Because you’re worth it. You’re worth _everything_ , and one day someone else is going to come along who can love you for exactly who you are, and he _will_ make you his queen, and you will _never_ deserve anything less. Do you hear me?”

Darcy nodded dumbly. She heard him, but she was still working on _understanding._ That had been a pretty big chunk of rant, and as she turned back to the fire – completely missing the way Steve had started to flush as it hit him exactly how much he’d just said – silence took over again as she tried to wrap her mind around it all.

The silence between them wasn’t awkward, but as she re-ran through his words in her mind, Steve seemed awkward as he started to say, “I won’t apologize for saying what I did, but I could’ve said it better, probably, less harshly, s—”

“Steve?” Darcy interrupted him just as he had her a moment ago, not caring to hear an apology of any sort. In her mind, he didn’t need to apologize in the first place anyway. Even though it was a strange thing to hear and process, it was nice. In fact, coming from him, it was more than nice; it was nearly more than she knew how to process. _And she might be about to make it worse_ , she realized as she asked carefully, “What did you mean, ‘one day someone _else_ is going to come along’?”

Steve froze. “What?”

“You said that someone _else_ was going to come along who could… love me for exactly who I was.” Her eyes were searching his, and he only looked slightly more hesitant than she was willing to bet she did as she asked, “What did you mean by that? Why would you phrase it like that?”

Steve inhaled deeply, letting go of the blanket around his shoulders to rake a hand through his hair as he looked away and muttered a curse. “Okay.” He took another breath, staring into the fire, and Darcy thought she recognized the look of someone gathering their nerve before he spoke.

 _What was going on? Did she_ really _dare to hope it was what she… well, what she hoped it was? No. No, no, no_ , she reminded herself firmly. She was getting way too far ahead of herself, and Steve was still way too far out of her league.

Yet the next words out of his mouth were: “When I said ‘we’ did all those things for you, as in the Avengers, I was mostly speaking for myself. Because I can’t say whether or not Tony or Clint loves you…” he looked her square in the eyes again, and there was a vulnerability there that she wasn’t sure what to do with as he admitted, “But I know I do.”

“Wha—” Darcy stammered, a nervous shiver skittering over her skin, jumpstarting her nerves into high alert. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means that _I_ love you, Darcy,” Steve answered with a crooked, boyish smile. He looked both nervous and very certain at the same time, and Darcy was nearly afraid to breathe lest she interrupt him. She was afraid that if he stopped to realize what he was saying, he would take it all back, and she wasn’t sure that she could handle that. He charged ahead, though, a raw honesty in his eyes that she hadn’t seen very often in the eyes of the cowled captain. But this wasn’t just “Captain America,” this was Steve, talking to Darcy alone, and he meant every word coming out of his mouth as he continued, “I think I’ve loved you ever since the first time I saw you use that crazy juiced-up Taser of yours, but you were always so beautiful and lively and brilliant and loving, and I…” he chuckled self-depreciatingly. “And I’m still just a boy from Brooklyn who has no idea how to talk to a lady.”

“Well, you’re certainly doing an okay job of it right now,” she answered faintly, staring at him with wide eyes.

“You sure?” he asked, smiling dryly at her suddenly, though she got the feeling his expression was meant to hide the real worry underneath.

“Definitely,” she nodded, scooting closer to him.

Darcy didn’t want to push – he was still way out of her league, in her opinion, and she was still _her_ – but he took the hint for what it was, his eyes turning a darker blue as he asked again, “Are you sure?”

This time he was asking something different – _for_ permission _to kiss her when she was trying to tell him that was what she wanted in the first place,_ Darcy realized, and warmth – absolute _adoration_ – curled in her stomach at the thought. “Definitely.”

So he kissed her, gently at first, and then his hands dropped away from his blanket, letting it fall to the ground behind him as he held onto her instead. He kept right on kissing her, and she was perfectly happy to let him – over the moon and maybe even still a little bit in shock, actually, that this was happening to _her. Captain America_ was kissing her, had told her he _loved her_.

_Somebody was going to pinch her so that she could wake up now, right?_

No pinch came, but Steve did break the kiss, just enough so that he could see her face as he spoke. Darcy chased the feeling of his lips on hers for a second, not willing to give it up until he asked, “How long do you think it’ll take for our rescue to get here?”

Completely flummoxed, Darcy shrugged. “I don’t know.” And in the middle of everything else, she couldn’t care less, either. “Why?”

“Because I was just thinking…” Steve was still grinning at her, she noticed now, in a way that she had a feeling promised imminent, absolutely _delicious_ things. “If it’s going to be a while – and it will – while we wait, I would be completely willing to make up for you missing your date… if you’re willing to let me?”

“Oh.” Darcy’s brain actually blanked for a second at the idea before she drew him in for another kiss, answering, “Oh, _definitely_.”


End file.
